Wednesday, March 1 2006 14:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: TDP members in the Rajya Sabha today (Mar 01 2006) demanded resignation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy following Election Commission's observation about large-scale irregularities in Visakhapatnam assembly constituency leading to countermanding of the bypoll.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Ravula Chandrasekhara Reddy said the EC had observed that a Union Minister as also several MLAs and MPs camped in the constituency violating the model code of conduct.

The TDP member was supported by his party colleagues and members from Samajwadi Party who demanded that the Chief Minister should resign and the Union Minister should be dropped as they had lost the moral right to remain in office.

The TDP members alleged that there was serious breakdown of law and order in the Congress-ruled state leading to strong protests from treasury benches.

With the decibel level rising, Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan appealed to both sides to maintain calm.

N P Durga (TDP) raised the issue of harassment to Indian software engineers in the US and described it as a racial discrimination against Indians.

Penumalli Madhu (CPI-M) raised the issue of the plight of cotton growers in Andhra Pradesh and sought Centre's intervention.

Prabha Thakur (Cong) expressed concern over spurious drugs flooding markets and was strongly supported by Sushma Swaraj (BJP).